Camden to require nonprofit day care centers to pay property taxes

CAMDEN — Cash-strapped Camden has found a new place to look for some tax revenue.

The city is sending property-tax bills to nonprofit day care centers. They've never been asked to pay taxes before.

Camden County tax administrator Kelly Heppe says it was wrong not to bill them.

The day care centers are not taking it lightly. They say they can't afford the taxes, have federal nonprofit status and operate just like schools.

Diana Walker, who runs the Martin Luther King Jr. Day Care in South Camden, told The Philadelphia Inquirer the city assumes her center makes money. But she says it doesn't. Most of her students are from low-income families who don't pay market rate for the services.